The 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)—the "Lucky 13th"—is a U.S. Army modular sustainment command which serves as a forward presence for expeditionary operations for a theater, or in support of a regional combatant commander. Expeditionary sustainment commands (ESC), such as the 13th, synchronize distribution of supplies and services within their operational areas and provides distribution oversight. Formed at Fort Hood, Texas when the 1st Logistics Command deployed to Vietnam, the organization then known as the 13th Support Brigade was initially responsible for the training of technical services units to assume combat service support missions in Southeast Asia.[1]

As the Army redefined the missions of its logistics forces in response to building towards a 16-division Army,[2] it was designated a corps support command (COSCOM). In 1992 the 13th COSCOM deployed to Somalia as part of Operation Restore Hope where for the first time a COSCOM was given the mission to provide theater-level support in a major U.S. operation.[3] The 13th ESC has deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait, and served as the logistics command for hurricane relief efforts in support of the American people after hurricanes Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita devastated the Gulf Coast.

The 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) was constituted on 11 August 1965 in the Regular Army, and activated 24 September 1965 at Fort Hood, Texas as the 13th Support Brigade, the 13th Support Brigade was formed as the nation's involvement in Vietnam increased, and was tasked with the training of technical services units to assume combat service support missions in Southeast Asia.[citation needed] With reorganization from the "technical service" concept to the "combat service to the Army" concept, functional training of units was decentralized in the Continental Army Command to post, camp and station level.[4]

The command continued to evolve due to increased missions and changing roles. Along with similar units, it was redesignated as 13th Corps Support Command (COSCOM) on 21 June 1975,[5] and then the 13th Support Command (Corps) on 16 October 1980.[6] As part of Army Transformation, it was reflagged to its current configuration as the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) during a formal ceremony on 23 February 2006.[7]

The crest was originally approved for the 13th Support Brigade on 11 August 1966, and re-designated for the 13th Corps Support Command, effective 13 May 1975, the 13th COSCOM retained the crest, shoulder patch and lineage as it redesignated to a sustainment command.

The crest is a yellow octagon with a ⅛ inch blue border 2½ inches in height overall, a scarlet saltire throughout, surmounted by a blue star of thirteen points fimbriated in yellow.

The octagon reinforced by the saltire refers to the unit's mission of supporting the combat, combat support and combat service support organizations of the Corps, its star symbolizes the many far reaching missions of the command, and having thirteen points, the star also alludes to its numerical designation. The octagon is a symbol of regeneration; it alludes to the combat service support functions of the unit as constantly renewing the strength and vigor of the Corps.

Yellow (substituted for Quartermaster buff) alludes to the supply and service functions of the command. Scarlet (substituted for Ordnance crimson and Transportation brick red) alludes to the maintenance and transportation functions of the command, the blue represents other support rendered by the command. This combination identifies the colors which are used in the flags of combat service support organizations.

Soldiers of the 13th ESC first deployed as the 13th Support Brigade in response to the Managua earthquake, where its soldiers served at Camp Christine, Managua, Nicaragua, assisting in disaster relief from 23 December 1972 to 19 January 1973. Units of the 13th deployed in Nicaragua included:

Though the headquarters did not deploy to Desert Shield and Desert Storm, units from the 13th COSCOM began to deploy in the fall of 1990 to Saudi Arabia to provide combat support and combat service support during the Gulf War, during Operation Desert Calm and Operation Provide Comfort, soldiers of the 13th ESC deployed to the Persian Gulf area. In 1992, 13th COSCOM soldiers deployed to Cuba to aid Haitian refugees during Operation Safe Harbor, and later assisted victims of Hurricane Andrew in Florida. 13th ESC soldiers led the way as III Corps units deployed to Kuwait to train and ensure the peace in support of Operation Intrinsic Action.[citation needed]

Operation Iraqi Freedom again saw 13th COSCOM units deployed, including 64th Corps Support Group, directly supporting the 4th Infantry Division. Elements of the 49th Movement Control Battalion have been continuously deployed in the region since 1997 and remain a critical node supporting all U.S. and coalition forces.

13th COSCOM first deployed a medical evacuation headquarters and an air evacuation company on 12 February 2003, to Kuwait. Those units were to reposition forces as required to support the president's global war on terrorism. Eventually, the 13th COSCOM deployed both of its local Brigades in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom while the headquarters and separate units supported the families at Fort Hood, Texas.

In August 2003 deployment notification came for the soldiers of the 13th COSCOM headquarters to participate in the ongoing operations in Iraq; in preparation for its first major deployment since Somalia, the 13th COSCOM colors were cased in a deployment and retreat ceremony held on the afternoon of 18 December 2004, at Sadowski Field on Fort Hood.

On 12 December 2004, the 13th COSCOM transferred authority to the 1st Corps Support Command, during its time at LSA Anaconda, the 13th COSCOM processed 2,000 tons of mail; averaged over 200 convoys a day for a total of 62,000 convoys involving 750,000 vehicles; and was responsible for quality of life improvements for the joint forces. The 13th COSCOM uncased its colors, signifying its return home and the end of its mission, at Fort Hood, Texas, on 21 January 2005.[9]

The 13th, under its new designation as a sustainment command (expeditionary) deployed once again to Logistics Support Area Anaconda in August, 2006, the command provided logistics oversight for the entire Iraq theater, and assumed command and control of seven subordinate brigades, which included:

During OIF 06-08, the 13th ESC provided key logistical support to the Iraq War troop surge of 2007, and facilitated the movement and training of the additional 20,000 troops through Camp Buehring, Kuwait, the 13th ESC redeployed to Fort Hood in August, 2007, and quickly started training and preparations for their deployment in support of OIF 09-11.

The command headquarters again deployed to the former LSA Anaconda, now under Air Force control under the redesignation of Joint Base Balad on 17 July 2009, and assumed the mission for theater logistics on 7 August,[10] the 13th ESC was faced with the largest movement of American forces and military equipment in more than 40 years to facilitate a responsible withdrawal from the Iraq theater of operation. Over the course of a year-long deployment, the 13th ESC brought more than $1 billion worth of equipment back into the U.S. Army supply system.

During an average day for the 13th ESC in OIF 09-11, they issued 96,000 cases of bottled water, 1.6 million US gallons (6,100 m3) of fuel, and delivered 137 tons of mail.

Some of the major accomplishments of the 13th ESC during OIF 09-11 included: signing a $31 million contract with a local Iraqi company to conduct container repair, opening the first Iraqi bank on Joint Base Balad, partnering with the Iraqi transportation network to get American trucks off the road, and Operation Clean Sweep, a comprehensive effort to reduce excess throughout the entire area of operation.

Deep in the process of deploying and redeploying 13th COSCOM units, key elements of 13th COSCOM supported Joint Task Force Katrina/Rita hurricane relief efforts in the summer of 2005.[11] 13th COSCOM provided 100 million rations, collected human remains with dignity, executed emergency engineering operations, transported, distributed and stored over one billion dollars in humanitarian relief from both non-governmental and federal sources from across the nation.[12]

Numbering nearly 1,000 soldiers at the height of operations, the command and staff of the 13th COSCOM formed Logistics Task Force Lonestar, composed of several different units from the support command. Soldiers representing transportation companies, medical and engineer units, maintenance groups and others worked to bring stability back to the storm-ravaged city of New Orleans and, after Hurricane Rita came ashore, close to Lake Charles, La.

With a humanitarian support mission for the people of New Orleans, the task force performed logistical missions from purifying water to providing engineer support to help clean up the streets in support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Joint Task Force Katrina. Working in sometimes difficult conditions, the task force was able to accomplish many tasks during their deployment including offering remedies to supply flow issues and establishing a donation distribution warehouse.[13]

In December of 2011, the 13th ESC command group and portions of the headquarters company deployed to Afghanistan as augmentees to the NATO Training Mission - Afghanistan. Upon arrival, deployed members of the unit integrated into the Deputy Command of Support Operations and served both in the headquarters of the directorate at Camp Eggers in Kabul, as well as in all five regional support commands across the country, conducting logistics training and mentoring of Afghan partners,[14] on 4 February 2012, BG Terence Hildner, Commander 13th ESC died of natural causes in Afghanistan.

In December 2014, the 13th ESC headquarters deployed to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, to assume the role as the Operational Command Post for the 1st Theater Sustainment Command, with the mission to provide Theater Sustainment Mission Command to Army, Joint, and Multinational Forces in the USCENTCOM Area of Responsibility, enabling Unified Land Operations and Theater Security Cooperation, the 13th ESC supported Operations Inherent Resolve (Iraq), Freedom Sentinel (Afghanistan), Spartan Shield (Kuwait), provided logistics and sustainment support and oversight to the Multinational Forces and Observer mission - Task Force Sinai, supported USCENTCOM forward elements in Jordan, and worked in cooperation with Combined Joint Interagency Task Force - Syria (CJIATF-S) to provide support to moderate Syrian opposition forces in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.[15]

The 13th COSCOM became the first COSCOM to transform to a Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and deploy to combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom 06-08.The command's primary mission is to provide combat support and combat service support in the areas of supply, maintenance, movement control, field services, and general engineering & construction.

Leveraging Sustainment Organizations in CONUS West duties involve coordination with all Sustainment Brigades, Support Brigades, and Army Field Support Brigades in the Continental United States, West of the Mississippi river.

1.
United States Army
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The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President

2.
Iraq War troop surge of 2007
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The surge was developed under the working title The New Way Forward and was announced in January 2007 by Bush during a television speech. Bush ordered the deployment of more than 20,000 soldiers into Iraq and he also extended the tour of most of the Army troops in country and some of the Marines already in the Anbar Province area. The President described the objective as establishing a. unified, democratic federal Iraq that can govern itself, defend itself, and sustain itself. The President stated that the surge would then provide the time, initiated against strong domestic opposition and after the Republican defeat in the 2006 midterm elections, the surge was considered extremely politically difficult. One White House staffer explained the political rationale succinctly, If you’re going to be a bear, be a grizzly. ”In retrospect, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, the US press also refers to the increase as a surge or Iraq troop surge. Following the speech, some Democrats began using the term rather than surge. Polls showed that after the 2006 general election, “A substantial majority of Americans expect Democrats to reduce or end American military involvement in Iraq if they control of Congress”. This view of the election as a referendum on the war was endorsed by Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi who in the days of the campaign said. If indeed it turns out the way people expect it to turn out, the American people will have spoken, and they will have rejected the course of action the president is on. ”The news media viewed the Democratic victory in both houses of the US Congress as “punishing President George W. Bush and his Republicans over ethics scandals in Washington. The article explained that after visiting wounded Iraq War veterans at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center, the new Democratic Congress will live up to the highest ethical standard. Are prepared to lead and ready to govern and we will honor the trust of the American people, we will not disappoint. Blunt bemoaned the fact Republicans had become the rather than the challengers of business as usual. Blunt opened his speech listing the oft voiced explanations of his partys defeat which included that the results were in part “a referendum on the war in Iraq” and he dismissed the notion that any one single reason explained the loss, saying “Different candidates lost for different reasons. A shift of 78,000 votes in the country would have changed the outcome. Our ideas didn’t get beat, in fact, we did and we must constantly refresh our ideas, assess our performance, and make corrections when necessary. This is a moment to do all three of those things. For a generation Reagan conservatives have consistently demonstrated an ability to do just that. Nowhere has this been more evident than in our response to the threats of Islamic totalitarianism, I am convinced that in this fight we will also prevail because the American people understand the need to win

3.
Fort Hood
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Fort Hood is a U. S. military post located in Killeen, Texas. The post is named after Confederate General John Bell Hood and it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about 60 miles from each, within the U. S. state of Texas. Fort Hood is an installation of the United States Army and is the largest military base in the world more than 215,000 acres. Its origin was the need for space to test and train with World War II tank destroyers. The War Department announced the location in January 1942, and the completion was set for that August. As originally constructed, Fort Hood had an area of 158,706 acres, the main cantonment of Fort Hood had a total population of 53,416 as of the 2010 U. S. Census. Fort Hood is the most populous U. S. military installation in the world, the main business area is in Bell County, with the training countryside area of the post in Coryell County. In April 2014, the Fort Hood website lists 45,414 assigned soldiers and 8,900 civilian employees with Fort Hood covering 214,000 acres, during World War II, tank destroyers were developed to counter German mobile armored units. These were mobile anti-tank guns on armored halftracks or specially developed tanks, wide-open space was needed for the tank destroyer testing and training, which Texas had in abundance. Andrew Davis Bruce was assigned to organize a new Tank Destroyer Tactical and Firing Center, the War Department announced the selection on 15 January 1942. An initial acquisition of 108,000 acres was made, and it was estimated that the camp would cost $22,800,000 for the land, facilities, the date of completion was set for 15 August 1942. About 300 families had to move from their homes to make room for the area and the communities of Clear Creek, Elijah. The old Sugar Loaf community, historically called the Cradle of Killeen, all that remains of the community is the mountain from which it took its name, located in the Fort Hood area. To lessen the burden of moving, the Army agreed to land to be used for grazing for a nominal grazing fee. This grazing arrangement still continues today, in mid-August the camp was occupied and the official opening took place on 18 September 1942. Camp Hood was named for the Confederate General John Bell Hood, the original facilities provided housing and training sites for nearly 38,000 troops. In January 1943, an additional 16,000 acres in Bell County and 34,943 acres in Coryell County near Gatesville, the site near Gatesville was known as the sub-camp and later as North Camp Hood. During the war years, North Camp Hood housed nearly 40,000 troops and 4,000 prisoners of war, and was the site for the southern branch of the United States Disciplinary Barracks

4.
Texas
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Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south

5.
Vietnam
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Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. With an estimated 92.7 million inhabitants as of 2016, it is the worlds 14th-most-populous country, and its capital city has been Hanoi since the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1976, with Ho Chi Minh City as a historical city as well. The northern part of Vietnam was part of Imperial China for over a millennium, an independent Vietnamese state was formed in 939, following a Vietnamese victory in the Battle of Bạch Đằng River. Following a Japanese occupation in the 1940s, the Vietnamese fought French rule in the First Indochina War, thereafter, Vietnam was divided politically into two rival states, North Vietnam, and South Vietnam. Conflict between the two sides intensified in what is known as the Vietnam War, the war ended with a North Vietnamese victory in 1975. Vietnam was then unified under a communist government but remained impoverished, in 1986, the government initiated a series of economic and political reforms which began Vietnams path towards integration into the world economy. By 2000, it had established relations with all nations. Since 2000, Vietnams economic growth rate has been among the highest in the world and its successful economic reforms resulted in its joining the World Trade Organization in 2007. It is also a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, Vietnam remains one of the worlds four remaining one-party socialist states officially espousing communism. The name Việt Nam is a variation of Nam Việt, a name that can be traced back to the Triệu Dynasty of the 2nd century BC. The word Việt originated as a form of Bách Việt. The form Vietnam is first recorded in the 16th-century oracular poem Sấm Trạng Trình, the name has also been found on 12 steles carved in the 16th and 17th centuries, including one at Bao Lam Pagoda in Haiphong that dates to 1558. Then, as recorded, rewarded Yuenan/Vietnam as their nations name, to also show that they are below the region of Baiyue/Bach Viet. Between 1804 and 1813, the name was used officially by Emperor Gia Long and it was revived in the early 20th century by Phan Bội Châus History of the Loss of Vietnam, and later by the Vietnamese Nationalist Party. The country was usually called Annam until 1945, when both the government in Huế and the Viet Minh government in Hanoi adopted Việt Nam. Archaeological excavations have revealed the existence of humans in what is now Vietnam as early as the Paleolithic age, Homo erectus fossils dating to around 500,000 BC have been found in caves in Lạng Sơn and Nghệ An provinces in northern Vietnam. The oldest Homo sapiens fossils from mainland Southeast Asia are of Middle Pleistocene provenance, teeth attributed to Homo sapiens from the Late Pleistocene have also been found at Dong Can, and from the Early Holocene at Mai Da Dieu, Lang Gao and Lang Cuom. The Hồng Bàng dynasty of the Hùng kings is considered the first Vietnamese state, in 257 BC, the last Hùng king was defeated by Thục Phán, who consolidated the Lạc Việt and Âu Việt tribes to form the Âu Lạc, proclaiming himself An Dương Vương

6.
Unified Task Force
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The Unified Task Force was a US-led, United Nations-sanctioned multinational force, which operated in Somalia between 5 December 1992 –4 May 1993. However, the intransigence of the local faction leaders operating in Somalia. The mission never reached its mandated strength, over the final quarter of 1992, the situation in Somalia continued to worsen. Factions were splintering into smaller factions, and then splintered again, agreements for food distribution with one party were worthless when the stores had to be shipped through the territory of another. Some elements were actively opposing the UNOSOM intervention, troops were shot at, aid ships attacked and prevented from docking, cargo aircraft were fired upon and aid agencies, public and private, were subject to threats, looting and extortion. In the face of mounting pressure and frustration, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali presented several options to the Security Council. Diplomatic avenues having proved largely fruitless, he recommended that a significant show of force was required to bring the groups to heel. Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations allows for action by air, sea or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace, Boutros-Ghali believed the time had come for employing this clause and moving on from peacekeeping. However, Boutros-Ghali felt that action would be difficult to apply under the mandate for UNOSOM. Moreover, he realised that solving Somalia’s problems would require such a deployment that the UN Secretariat did not have the skills to command. Accordingly, he recommended that an intervention force be constituted under the command of member states. The goal of deployment was to prepare the way for a return to peacekeeping. The Security Council urged the Secretary-General and member states to make arrangements for the unified command, UNITAF has been considered part of a larger state building initiative in Somalia, serving as the military arm to secure the distribution of humanitarian aid. However, UNITAF cannot be considered a building initiative due to its ‘specific, limited and palliative aims. The primary objective of UNITAF was security rather than larger institution building initiatives, prior to Resolution 794, the United States had approached the UN and offered a significant troop contribution to Somalia, with the caveat that these personnel would not be commanded by the UN. CIA Paramilitary Officer Larry Freedman from their Special Activities Division became the first US casualty of the conflict in Somalia when his vehicle struck an anti-tank mine. Freedman was a former Army Delta Force operator and Special Forces soldier and had served in every conflict that the US was involved in both officially and unofficially since Vietnam, Freedman was awarded the Intelligence Star for extraordinary heroism. The first Marines of UNITAF landed on the beaches of Somalia on 9 December 1992 amid a media circus, the press seemed to know the exact time and place of the Marines arrival and waited on the airport runway and beaches to capture the moment

7.
Hurricane Katrina
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Hurricane Katrina was the costliest natural disaster and one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. The storm is ranked as the third most intense United States landfalling tropical cyclone. Overall, at least 1,245 people died in the hurricane and subsequent floods, total property damage was estimated at $108 billion, roughly four times the damage wrought by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 in the United States. Early the following day, the new depression intensified into Tropical Storm Katrina, the cyclone headed generally westward toward Florida and strengthened into a hurricane only two hours before making landfall at Hallandale Beach and Aventura on August 25. After very briefly weakening to a storm, Katrina emerged into the Gulf of Mexico on August 26. The storm caused severe destruction along the Gulf coast from central Florida to Texas, much of it due to the storm surge, severe property damage occurred in coastal areas, such as Mississippi beachfront towns, over 90 percent of these were flooded. Boats and casino barges rammed buildings, pushing cars and houses inland, over fifty breaches in New Orleanss hurricane surge protection were the cause of the majority of the death and destruction during Katrina on August 29,2005. Eventually 80% of the city and large tracts of neighboring parishes became flooded, according to a modeling exercise conducted by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, two-thirds of the deaths in Greater New Orleans were due to levee and floodwall failure. All of the studies concluded that the USACE, the designers and builders of the levee system as mandated by the Flood Control Act of 1965, is responsible. This is mainly due to a decision to use shorter steel sheet pilings in an effort to save money, exactly ten years after Katrina, J. Many other government officials were criticized for their responses, especially New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, several agencies including the United States Coast Guard, National Hurricane Center, and National Weather Service were commended for their actions. They provided accurate hurricane weather tracking forecasts with sufficient lead time, Hurricane Katrina formed as Tropical Depression Twelve over the southeastern Bahamas on August 23,2005, as the result of an interaction of a tropical wave and the remains of Tropical Depression Ten. It strengthened into Tropical Storm Katrina on the morning of August 24, the tropical storm moved towards Florida, and became a hurricane only two hours before making landfall between Hallandale Beach and Aventura on the morning of August 25. The storm weakened over land, but it regained hurricane status about one hour after entering the Gulf of Mexico, on August 27, the storm reached Category 3 intensity on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, becoming the third major hurricane of the season. An eyewall replacement cycle disrupted the intensification, but caused the storm to nearly double in size, the storm rapidly intensified after entering the Gulf, growing from a Category 3 hurricane to a Category 5 hurricane in just nine hours. This rapid growth was due to the movement over the unusually warm waters of the Loop Current. Katrina attained Category 5 status on the morning of August 28 and reached its peak strength at 1800 UTC that day, with sustained winds of 175 mph. However, this record was broken by Hurricane Rita

8.
Hurricane Rita
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Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita formed near The Bahamas from a wave on September 18 that originally developed off the coast of West Africa. It moved westward, and after passing through the Florida Straits, moving west-northwest, it rapidly intensified to reach peak winds of 180 mph, achieving Category 5 status on September 21st. Rapidly weakening over land, Rita degenerated into a large area over the lower Mississippi Valley by September 26th. Parishes in Southwest Louisiana and counties in Southeast Texas where Rita made landfall suffered from catastrophic-to-severe flooding, according to an October 25,2005 Disaster Center report,4,526 single-family dwellings were destroyed in Orange and Jefferson counties located in Southeast Texas. Major damage was sustained by 14,256 additional single-family dwellings, mobile homes and apartments also sustained significant damage or total destruction. In all, nine Texas counties and five Louisiana Parishes were declared disaster areas after the storm, electric service was disrupted in some areas of both Texas and Louisiana for several weeks. Texas reported the most deaths from the hurricane, where 113 deaths were reported,107 of which were associated with the evacuation of the Houston metropolitan area, moderate to severe damage was reported across the lower Mississippi Valley. Rainfall from the storm and its associated remnants extended from Louisiana to Michigan, rainfall peaked at 16.00 in in Central Louisiana. Several tornadoes were also associated with the hurricane and its subsequent remnants, throughout the path of Rita, damage totaled about $12 billion. As many as 120 deaths in four U. S. states were directly related to the hurricane, on September 7,2005, a tropical wave emerged off the west coast of Africa and moved westward into the Atlantic Ocean. Failing to produce organized, deep convection, the disturbance was not monitored by the National Hurricane Center for tropical cyclogenesis. Convection associated with the system increased briefly late on September 13 before dissipating shortly thereafter, at roughly the same time, a remnant surface trough had developed from a dissipating stationary front and began to drift westward north of the Lesser Antilles. Meanwhile, the wave slowly became better organized and was first noted in the NHCs Tropical Weather Outlooks on September 15 while northeast of Puerto Rico. The wave merged with the surface trough two days later, triggering an increase in activity and organization. At the time, the disturbance, classified as Tropical Depression Eighteen, was roughly 80 mi east of Grand Turk Island in the Turks, as a result, the tropical storm was named Rita. Once the upper-level low weakened, Ritas center of circulation reformed to the north, consequently, the tropical storm resumed its previous strengthening trend as it was steered westward across The Bahamas along the south periphery of a ridge. Upon entering the Straits of Florida on September 20, Rita strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane by 1200 UTC, six hours later, Rita intensified further into Category 2 before subsequently passing approximately 45 mi south of Key West, Florida

9.
Quartermaster
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Quartermaster is a military or naval term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a senior soldier who supervises stores and distributes supplies. In many navies, quartermaster is an officer rank. In some navies, it is not a rank but a related to navigation. The term appears to derive from the title of a German royal official and this term meant master of quarters. Or it could have derived from master of the quarterdeck where the helmsman. The term was adopted by some European armies and navies. The first use in English was as a term, entering English via the equivalent French and Dutch naval titles quartier-maître. The term began to refer to officers in English around 1600. For land armies, the term was first coined in Germany as Quartiermeister, in the 17th century, it started to be used in various militaries in the sense of organizing supplies. In the British Army, the Quartermaster is the officer in a battalion or regiment responsible for supply, by longstanding tradition, he or she is always commissioned from the ranks and holds the rank of captain or major. Some units also have a Technical Quartermaster, who is in charge of technical stores, the Quartermaster is assisted by the Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant and a staff of storemen. The QM, RQMS and storemen are drawn from the regiment or corps in which work, not from the Royal Logistic Corps. Units which specialize in supply are known as units, not quartermaster units. From at least the English Civil War period until 1813, the Quartermaster was the senior NCO in a British cavalry troop, in that year, the position was replaced by the new appointment of Troop Sergeant Major, with the cavalry adopting commissioned, regimental Quartermasters as described above. In recent years, the Quartermaster has been a trained officer of the Logistics Branch. The Quartermaster was responsible for operations in the Imperial Russian Army. In the United States Army, the term is used to describe all supply personnel, in the Swiss Army, a Quartermaster is an Officer in charge with the coordination of the Kommissariatsdienst of a Battalion, Regiment and Brigade/Division

10.
1972 Nicaragua earthquake
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The 1972 Nicaragua earthquake occurred at 12,29 a. m. local time on Saturday, December 23 near Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. It had a magnitude of 6.2, with the epicenter 28 kilometers northeast of the city centre, and a depth of about 5 kilometers. Within an hour after the shock, two aftershocks, one of magnitude 5.0 and the other 5.2, occurred at 1,18 a. m. and 1,20 a. m. The earthquake caused widespread casualties among Managuas residents,6,000 were killed,20,000 were injured and over 250,000 were left homeless. Managua, which lies on the shore of Lake Xolotlan. The city has a history of volcanic and seismic activity which arise from the relative movements of two crustal plates which intersect near the southwestern border of Central America. The Cocos plate, located east of the East Pacific Rise, is moving northeastward and is slowly being submerged under the Caribbean Plate. The zone of dipping is initiated at the surface of the Middle America Trench, one of the most significant geological effects of the 1972 Nicaragua earthquake quake was surface faulting. The earthquake severely damaged an area of 27 square kilometers and destroyed 13 square kilometers in the city centre, much of the damage arose from seismic ground movement which occurred within 10–15 seconds of the main shock. The majority of the factories and smaller buildings were severely damaged and this architecture is far from earthquake resistant, something that became fatally evident. An estimated 53,000 homes in the city were affected, the water and electrical power networks were so severely damaged that a week following the earthquake only 10% of the city had any working water service. Two-thirds of Managuas 1000000 residents were displaced and faced food shortage and disease, because of the damaging effects of the earthquake many of the emergency services in the city were operating at a seriously lower level than normal. The earthquake destroyed all the equipment available and fires were prevalent in some areas for several days. All four main hospitals which before the disaster had 1650 beds were unserviceable, the Nicaraguan government appealed for aid, and the government accepted aid from countries like the United States and Mexico and some 25 other countries worth millions of dollars. It was because of reports that the Puerto Rican baseball star Roberto Clemente chose to personally accompany the fourth of a number of relief flights he had organized. That flight crashed on December 31,1972, killing Clemente among others, another difficulty was that much of the material aid donated was inappropriate for the needs of the affected Nicaraguans, including such items as winter clothes and frozen TV dinners. This grew into a revolt that became the Nicaraguan Revolution, in which Somoza was overthrown in 1979, reconstruction only began in earnest in the 1990s. The earthquake changed the face of Managua during its decades of recovery, the city centre is no longer clearly defined, as buildings have been constructed away from the city centre

11.
Managua
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Managua is the capital city of Nicaragua as well as of the department of the same name. The city was declared the capital in 1852. Prior, the capital alternated between the cities of León and Granada, the 1972 Nicaragua earthquake and years of civil war in the 1980s severely disrupted and stunted Managuas growth. It was not until the mid-1990s that Managua began to see a resurgence, the name Managua originates from the term Mana-ahuac, which in the indigenous Nahuatl language translates to adjacent to the water or site surrounded by water. Residents of the city are called managüenses or capitalinos, Nicaragua was inhabited by Paleo-Americans as far back as 6,000 years ago. The ancient footprints of Acahualinca are 2, 100-year-old fossils discovered along the shores of Lake Managua, founded by a pre-Columbian fishing town, the city was incorporated in 1819 and given the name Leal Villa de Santiago de Managua. Efforts to make Managua the capital of Nicaragua began in 1824, Managuas location between the rival cities of León and Granada made it a logical compromise site. After Granada was destroyed by an army led by William Walker in 1857. Between 1852 and 1930, Managua underwent extensive urbanization, becoming a base of governance, infrastructure, the city was hampered by major floods in 1876 and 1885. A disastrous earthquake in 1931 and large fire in 1936 destroyed much of the city, under the rule of dictator Anastasio Somoza García and his family, the city was rebuilt and began to grow rapidly. New government buildings were erected, industry developed, and universities were established, Managua had become Central Americas most developed city. Todays references differentiate the pre-1970s Managua by labeling it as La Antigua Ciudad, Managuas progress came to a sudden halt after it suffered a second major earthquake on December 23,1972, which destroyed 90% of the citys downtown and killed more than 19,120 people. Infrastructure was severely damaged and rehabilitation or restoration of buildings was nearly impossible, at the time, Managuas limited resources had to be directed to other disaster relief purposes. Managuas ability to cope with the disaster was also limited, surviving fire squadrons and ambulance companies were not able to handle the skyrocketing demand for their services. Some buildings burned to the ground, while the foundations of others simply gave way, not able to rebuild quickly, the city directed emergency workers to clear away much of the citys ruins quickly while burying the deceased in mass graves. Residences, government buildings and entire avenues were demolished, escaping the city center, earthquake victims found refuge in the outskirts of the city. The Nicaraguan Civil War of 1979 to overthrow the Somoza regime, to make matters worse, a series of natural disasters, including Hurricane Mitch in 1998, made economic recovery more difficult. After winning the elections of 1990, UNO the reconstruction of Managua began in earnest, in 2006, after the FSLN came back into power, literacy, health and reconstruction programs were expanded

US President George H. W. Bush (left) visiting Somalia to witness first hand the efforts of Task Force Somalia that was in direct support of Operation Restore Hope. On the right is Brigadier General Thomas Mikolajcik.

Indian ArmyT-72 tanks with UN markings in support of Operation Continue Hope